Ghana Education Service (GES) in partnership with waste management company, Zoomlion Ghana Limited, is set to embark on a nationwide fumigation of all Senior High Schools as well as Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions as part of efforts to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The exercise will see Zoomlion fumigate all the 546 boarding schools, 176 day schools, 28 special schools in the country.
The company as part of its corporate social responsibility has also decided to fumigate all the 380 private second cycle schools in the country.
Launch
Speaking at the launch, Director General of GES, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa said the exercise which would end in three weeks has been planned to get rid of bedbugs and other rodents which have been a source of worry for the education sector.
He was optimistic the exercise will be successful as shown by recent results of Zoomlion’s similar exercise in markets across the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh reiterated the need for the exercise to be done at this time when the schools have been closed as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
This, he said will ensure that the school environments are safe by the time schools reopen.
He urged Ghanaians to stay home unless it is very necessary for them to go out, saying the virus is real and should not be taken for granted.
National President of Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools, I.K Mensah applauded the initiative to include private schools in the exercise, saying this is the beginning of a new chapter which must be maintained.
He urged government to extend other benefits the public institutions are enjoying to private schools which are major players in the education sector.
Zoomlion in a statement indicated that “as part of our corporate social responsibility, Zoomlion Ghana Limited and Vectorpes has disinfected some vulnerable institutions and some major public institutions including the Dworwulu Special School, Akuapem Akropong School for the Blind, Mampong School for the Deaf, the Judicial Service and the Ghana School of Law among others.
It said similar activities have been undertaken at the University of Ghana (UG), University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), the Accra Technical University, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), some banks and oil companies among others on highly subsidized business levels.
“Corporate institutions are therefore being encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity during this lockdown to disinfect their premises against bacteria, germs and influenza viruses, by contacting numbers provided for immediate inspection, disinfection and fumigation at a 50% discount rate”, the statement added.
Meanwhile, Zoomlion Ghana Limited has outdoored new equipment for their disinfection and fumigation exercise including an automised boom spraying machine which can spray up to 50 metres.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak